The 2026 Masters began poorly for Aldrich Potgieter on Thursday morning. The 21-year-old South African, who leads the PGA Tour in average driving distance this season, struggled from the start. He blocked his opening tee shot well right, and things quickly deteriorated from there.
Augusta National has some of the tightest lies in golf, which become even tighter where patrons gather around the greens. Potgieter and his lob wedge discovered this when he skulled his pitch shot over the green and up against a grandstand on the opening hole.
Potgieter’s Difficult Start
After a double bogey on the first hole, Potgieter managed three consecutive pars. However, the course then took hold of him on the Par 4 fifth hole. A run of bogey, bogey, double bogey, double bogey saw him plummet to the bottom of the leaderboard, playing at 8-over through eight holes.
Amen Corner Troubles
Amen Corner was also unforgiving to the long hitter. After a bogey on No. 11, Potgieter’s tee shot on the Par 3 12th found the water, leading to his fourth double bogey of the day.
Olazabal’s Strong Showing
Potgieter’s pairing with Rasmus Neergard-Petersen and 60-year-old, two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal created a stark contrast. Olazabal, 39 years older than Potgieter, outperformed him by an impressive 10 shots on the opening nine holes. Potgieter posted a 44, while Olazabal turned at 2-under.
While Potgieter’s struggles are not unique at Augusta National, his pairing made his implosion particularly notable.